But what are we eating today? From where is the food going to come? My children are all over me. It’s not only because daddy just got home without a loaf of bread for them, it’s because it’s now recurrent that daddy does not buy bread for them at the close of work anymore. No more Saturday evening suya when returning from the ‘joint’ he has stopped going for some months now, no more meat in the soup, and most times, soaking garri is the best meal for the day.
Little Angel crawls to daddy, holds daddy expectantly to see his response to an obvious demand for food. She couldn’t say a word, but her looks was that of a child asking her helpless father to meet up with her needs, at least to drink ‘akamu’. But daddy is hapless. I wanted her to eat, but where is the food? I wanted her to take her bread and tea in the morning, but from where? Of course, I wanted her to take her ‘akamu’ but I’m helpless as though I’m useless. It’s nobody’s fault but mine. I’m just a weak daddy, a failure. I should have worked harder than this. I won’t blame change, because I’m the change.
Then, my wife walks in, she looks at me and sighs; “darling don’t worry, I understand things are hard, I understand times have changed, I understand. I know that one day, we will eat again. I know this won’t kill us, it will make us stronger,” She sobs away her agony.
My son calls out my name with the remaining energy in him,” Daddy, I want to eat.” I looked at him, and tears rolled down like an ever flowing Awube River.
“Son,” I said, ” Emeka has closed his shop. I will get you something when the day breaks” But my son replies,” Daddy, won’t hunger kill us before tomorrow? What if we die? What if Emeka never opens his shop?”
In tears, I said, “God will give us something to eat in our dream and we won’t die. We will see tomorrow and buy bread from Emeka.”
My son goes to bed again in hunger, hoping that Emeka will open the shop the next day. Till this moment, Emeka has shut his shop and we have nowhere to buy bread on credit. Emeka too is complaining about the change. He said, Baba Mathew, ” the change has affected my business. Customers have ruined my business. Nobody pays any more, everything is now on credit. Prices of items have equally skyrocketed and no longer affordable. I will open my shop when the ‘change’ is over.”
Then the little boy selling for Emeka breaks down in tears. “Uncle, so we will never open the shop again? Am I returning to hunger, the change in the village?”
Emeka looks into the little boy’s eyes intently with no reply. Then the little boy fires on, ” I do not want to go to the village. All my friends are dead. They say there is no food in the village and they are all dead. Some even died of cholera. They say Awube River is contaminated. I don’t want to die of ‘change’,” he sobs.
“Don’t worry my son,” I responded on behalf of Emeka who was obviously lost and speechless, ” you won’t return to the village. We will remain here, struggle and get out of the wood, this hood. If the change will kill you, let it kill all of us,” I said with a wishful smile.
Then came the moment; that moment I couldn’t hold back my tears. The Landlord had come to the house, and I saw wife from afar, with my little Angel on her back and my Son in front of her. “We have been ejected,” she said in a low tone, apparently to hide our shame from Emeka and others who are still standing with me. I wasn’t expecting the development, at least Landlord should have given me a quit notice before the action of invading my house with some fearless looking thugs. “Where do we go from here? I will go to the Landlord and tell him to give us more time. We will pay when the bank loan comes,” I told my wife. Wife reluctantly said” Which bank? Our bank is liquidating soon, the recession is almost sweeping it away, and the loan we applied for may never come. Moreover, we no longer have a collateral since you have now sold your car. Of course, selling that car was the best decision we ever made. Where is the money to buy fuel that is no longer affordable? Change is here.”
Wife agrees with me in almost everything and we went to the Landlord again. “Mr. Lawrence,” he looks at me regretfully. “I’m sorry you have to vacate this house. I have sold the house, and I no longer have authority over the rent. I only led the Landlord and his thugs down here. Times have changed and things are hard. Change is here,” crushing my hope again.
You see…that’s the point we are now. Where do we go from here? Everybody is now helpless. EFCC is even after the man that bought the house over financial misappropriation. I’m sure, he will soon sell the house or EFCC will confiscate it. We are all hungry and homeless. I will think of what to do, but crime is definitely not an option, but can I vouch for others? Definitely no! Because change is here!!.
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